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Minnesota: A Walker Art Center project is trying to broaden teens' horizons via radio shows

Copyright 2004 Star Tribune  
Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN)

July 17, 2004, Saturday, Metro Edition

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. 1B

LENGTH: 629 words

HEADLINE: Giving the young a voice of their own;
A Walker Art Center project is trying to broaden teens' horizons via radio shows.

BYLINE: Allie Shah; Staff Writer

BODY:
With the words, "Oh, that's sweet!" John Love went from ordinary citizen to host of his own neighborhood radio show.

     His big moment soon will be echoed across the Twin Cities as more teenagers hook up with a new Walker Art Center project that aims to expand what's available on local radio.

     From now through Nov. 2, the Walker will distribute 500 one-milliwatt radio transmitters and host a series of workshops to teach people how to operate their own low-power FM radio stations.

     Their voices won't carry far. Each transmitter carries just enough juice to broadcast about a city block long. But combined, ordinary citizens broadcasting on the Twin Cities' public frequency station, 97.7 FM, will be as powerful as any large, commercial radio station in town, said Jennifer Allora, one of two Walker artists-in-residence leading the project in conjunction with the Walker's Teen Arts Council.

     The Federal Communications Commission allows people to broadcast without a license if they're broadcasting within a very small listening area.

     One afternoon during the inaugural week of the "Radio Re-volt" project, Allora and fellow artist-in-residence Guillermo Calzadilla led a radio workshop.

     The students, at the Plymouth Youth Center's alternative school in north Minneapolis for summer school, each received a portable transmitter - a small square that resembled a microchip, powered by four batteries.

     Then they rummaged through a box of household items and selected objects that would house the transmitter and become their own personal radio stations. "Anything can become a radio station," Calzadilla told them, using a small log as an example.

     Love, 18, chose a stuffed toy for his radio station. As he cut open the back of the white, floppy-eared bunny and replaced the stuffing with the tiny transmitter, he began making plans for his station. It would have music for people of all ages to enjoy. The mix would include children's songs from movies such as "The Lion King" to "old school" artists such as Marvin Gaye, Luther Vandross and the Jackson Five.

     What would Charles Daniels, 18, play? "I'd be throwing some of the old cuts. Maybe mix it up with the new cuts," he said without hesitation. Besides music, he'd have a call-in show, one that would dispense expert advice on matters of the heart. "Talk to me about your relationship," Daniels said in his smoothest voice, putting his hand to his ear, DJ style.

     As Allora showed the students how to use the microphone and plug their compact-disc players into the transmitter and play their music, the budding DJs became excited. "I'm going to try this tonight!" Daniels vowed.

     Can I drive around and broadcast from my car, he wondered. You sure can, Allora said.

     "That's tight!"

     Love plans to have all his friends tune into 97.7 FM at the same time so he can have a large audience.

     He mainly listens to three FM radio stations in town: B-96, KDWB and KMOJ. But sometimes he tires of the sameness. "When you hear the same song over and over, you don't want to hear it anymore," he said.

     When it was time to try out his new radio gear, Love was the picture of concentration. With Calzadilla's help, he took a red pointed tool that was slimmer than a pencil and used it to crank the tiny button on his transmitter.

     "Hello, hello." The sound of his voice came through the nearby boombox, crisp and strong.

     "Oh, that's sweet!"

     For a guide to programs being broadcast in which neighborhoods across Minneapolis, log on to the Walker Art Center's Web site, http://calendar.walkerart.org/event.wac?id=1302, beginning Wednesday.

     Allie Shah is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it



GRAPHIC: PHOTO

LOAD-DATE: July 19, 2004